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Tit for Tat
'''Tit for Tat '''is the third episode of the first season of Small Railway Adventures. Plot The engines were being cleaned and polished for the day. Bert, who was going out first, had a tall chimney in his funnel to draw up his fire. "We've got Visitors today," said his Driver. Rex yawned. "We have 'em every day," grunted Mike. "But these are Special," said the Driver. "One takes 'moving pictures' and the other writes books. So mind you all behave." "I don't want to be a moving picture in a book," protested Bert. "I want to stay as I am." They all tried to explain, but Bert was still muddled when he went to take his train. The visitors were clergyman, one fat, the other thin. They arrived in a little car. Both had cameras. They shook hands with Bert's Driver. "The Small Controller," he told them, "says you can ride with me in Bert's tender, if you like." "Thank you," they said. "May we come later please? Just now, the sun is shining so nicely that we want to take photographs." Then they asked Bert his name and told him how smart he looked. "These visitors," he thought, "do at least know how to speak to engines." He puffed away feeling happier. Wherever the line came near the road - level crossings, bridges, stations - there the two clergyman were, squinting into their cameras. Bert found this rather upsetting. "They might wave at an engine," he complained. "They can't wave ''and ''get good pictures," said his Driver; but Bert didn't understand. He thought they were being unfriendly. "Poop! Poop!" The little car shot past them once more, but Bert made no reply. "They'll be at the Lane next." The Lane is a side-road. I runs for a short distance alongside the railway. There is no fence. It had rained hard in the night. There were puddles in the Lane. The Thin Clergyman sat in the car. The Fat One waited with his camera. He took his pictures, jumped in, and off they went, racing the train to the Lane's end. Unluckily, just as they passed Bert, they went through a puddle. "Schloooooosh" - muddy water splashed over Bert's boiler. "Ouch!" said Bert. But the clergymen didn't know. They were ahead and out of the car. Smiling they waited for Bert to catch up. Bert wasn't smiling. "They did it on purpose," he snorted crossly. "They splashed me! They SPLASHED me!" Bert hissed, rolling into the last station. "Pictures indeed!" he grumbled, running around his train. "I'm a nice picture; covered in mud!" He sizzled crossly when the Fat Clergyman sat in his tender for the journey back. "Driver oughtn't to allow him after what he's done!" Suddenly he stopped sizzling, and let off steam "Whooooooooosh!" "I know," he thought, "how to pay the Fat One out. It's a ''lovely ''plan. I only wish the Thin One was there too," he said. But he said it to himself. Bert ran nicely till they reached the woods. The line climbs steeply here. Bert usually "rushes" the hill. This time, he deliberately dawdled. "Come on!" said his Driver giving him full steam. This was just what Bert wanted. "Tit for Tat! TIT for TAT!" he shouted, storming up the slope. Rain-soaked branches met close overhead. Bert's blast, shooting straight up, shook them wildly. Showers of water fell on Clergyman and Driver. Their soaking did not stop till they had topped the rise, and steam could be reduced for the downward run. The Small Controller soon found out what had happened. He sent Bert back to the Shed. "You're a Very Naughty Engine," he said sternly. "I won't have rudeness to visitors." "They ''splashed ''me," faltered Bert. "I only . . ." "That's no excuse. I'm ashamed of you." Bert went sadly away. But he was happy again when Rex and Mike came in. "Those visitors are Nice," he told them. "They came and said 'sorry', and I said 'sorry' too. They cleaned me like Driver does. They know lots about engines," he went on. "The Thin One's writing about me in a book. He promised he'd write about you too. Think of that!" Characters *Rex *Bert *Mike *The Small Controller *The Thin Clergyman *The Fat Clergyman Trivia *This episode is based off the story of the same name from "Small Railway Engines" by the Rev. W. Awdry. Category:Adventures on Rails Category:Episodes Category:Small Railway Adventures